The Raven's Source

Chapter 56 - Life & Death

As Cerno, Sheja, and Twyn stepped into the room, Lydia was off to the side of the room, pulling different items from her bag and laying them neatly across the short but wide dresser. Leena was sat up in the bed, blankets pulled up to her lap. She smiled brightly seeing Twyn.

"Leenasera," Twyn tried to say as his voice cracked. He walked over and sat next to her, his eyes welling up. "My baby sister is growing up. Her dream is coming true."

She chuckled and gave him a gentle, playful shove.

"Don't forget your promise to me," he said more seriously, quickly wiping his eyes. "When all is said and done, you're not allowed to leave us."

"I have no plan to," she beamed happily at him. "Besides, I'm pacted to Sheja. Pacted that I would never leave her," she added, smiling at Sheja who was sat down on a loveseat about 15 feet away, her face slightly tilted down as it usually was over the last few days. Although she couldn't move, she had always been able to hold her head up on her own.

"A magic pact?" Twyn asked. "When?"

"The morning of our Coming of Age. She wanted to tell me everything and made me promise that I would never hate her after she told me. The goober told me I could leave and she would understand, but I just wasn't allowed to hate her. Well, I promised I would never leave, ever." Leena finally moved her eyes away from her statuesque wife and looked back up into her brother's eyes. "I will never leave her—not in love, and not in life."

"I'm holdin' you to that, dear," Lydia chuckled. Everyone was pleased to see that she seemed to be back to her normal self again. "I ain't plannin' on any of ya makin' any departures today. Only arrivals!" she advised. She held out a box to Leena. "Here, dears. Eat one or two, it'll help you both feel better."

"Oh! Your chocolate chip cookies!" Leena cheered, quickly opening the box and taking one. She inhaled deeply, the still warm chocolate wafting in the air as the box was allowed to breathe.

"These smell delicious," Twyn complimented as he too reached out and took one.

"Recipe has been passed down through many generations in my family," Lydia said chipperly. "I just taught my own daughter a few years ago. My heart swells knowin' one day she'll pass it on, too."

"Lydia, could you teach me?" Leena asked as she licked chocolate off one of her fingers, holding half of her remaining cookie in the other.

"I'd love to, darlin'," she replied. "You already have the most necessary ingredient, too!"

"I do?" she curiously replied, mid-chew.

"Mm hmm," Lydia giggled. "Love. This whole family just flows so naturally with it...overflows, really. Without love, cookies just don't taste that good and honestly never will."

Leena let out a sound of discomfort and slowly writhed where she sat as the wave of a contraction came up on her out of nowhere.

Lydia glanced over at her before looking up at the clock on the wall then returning to making sure her items were in order.

"Deep breaths, Leena," Twyn said, smiling at her. He reached out and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and laughing softly, "I'll hold your hand right now, but there is no way in hell I'm holding your hand when you start the pushin'."

"Why?" she asked through a groan. The pain started to ebb away again after only half a minute.

"Because you'd break my fingers!" he laughed a little louder in defense. "I like my fingers intact, thank you!"

"I could always heal them for you," Cerno offered with a grin.

"You're a funny guy," Twyn said, wrinkling his nose at Cerno. "Sheja's the other half of this situation. She should come hold Leena's hand when the time comes," he teased, trying to keep his interactions just as normal as everyone else had been trying to do. He playfully stuck his tongue out at her even though her body didn't react to his taunt.